Page 49 of My End

This wasn’t just a mission anymore.

She wasmine.

And someday, I was going to tell her everything and pray she wouldn’t run.

Chapter Twenty

Tilly

The first thing I became aware of was heat.

Heat from his bare chest pressed against my back. Heat from the weight of the blanket tangled around my legs. Heat from the sun trying to break through the gauzy studio curtains and land right on our couch-bound embrace like a spotlight.

I didn’t move at first. Didn’t want to.

Jake was wrapped around me like I was something precious. His hand was splayed across my stomach, warm and protective. One of his legs hooked over mine, and his other knee tucked behind mine. I could feel every part of him, and my skin hummed with the memory of what we’d done just a few hours before.

It should’ve felt awkward. Embarrassing, even.

But it didn’t.

It felt right.

I turned slightly, just enough to see his face.

He was still sleeping. His mouth slightly parted, and one arm curled under his head. There was something peaceful about him like this. Something almost boyish beneath the muscles and sharp jaw and the tension that always lived in his shoulders.

I reached up and gently brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead.

He stirred; his brows twitched but didn’t wake.

So I let myself just… exist. For once. Curled up in the studio I never let anyone into, with a man who had kissed me like I was the only woman in the world, then worshiped my body like I was his damn religion.

My gaze flicked toward the painting on the easel.

The colors seemed even more vibrant this morning. Like they were alive.

He’d stared at it last night like it meant something. LikeImeant something.

Maybe I did.

He shifted behind me then, pressed a kiss to my shoulder, slow and soft. His hand slid across my stomach again and pulled me even closer.

“Mornin’, sweetheart,” he murmured, his voice rough and delicious from sleep.

“Morning,” I whispered and turned to face him fully.

He smiled. A real one. Not the cocky smirk he used when people were watching. This one was all warm and sleepy affection.

My heart did something stupid in my chest.

He kissed me again, this time on the lips, just a slow brush, the kind that made me sigh against his mouth.

“Sleep okay?” he asked as he trailed kisses along my jaw.

“Better than I have in a long time.”

He pulled back enough to look into my eyes. “Yeah?”